“As long as the EU doesn’t lift the oil embargo, we won’t give them a drop of oil,” said Nasser Soudani, the deputy chairman of the energy committee. Prior to this, some 500,000 barrels arrived in Europe every day from Iran.

The sanctions imposed on Iran by the U.S., and the EU embargo on Iranian oil, are aimed at stopping Tehran from enriching uranium, although it is their right under international law. Despite the fact that the U.S. intelligence community believes the Iranian nuclear program is entirely civilian in nature, Congress and the Obama administration have taken threatening postures for political purposes.

The move to cut off exports to the EU before the embargo sets in is an illustration of how poorly the sanctions program on Iran has worked. Instead of pressuring the Iranian government to conform to the wishes of the U.S. and its western allies, it has emboldened the regime.

Oh this is not going to end well. Has anyone in the bowels of US, EU, and otherwise governments given even one rational moment of thought to any of this?
Wasn't it the Persians that invented the game of chess? I'm not certain but I think they did.
Ummm say, Europe? Checkmate!

I'm also wondering if Iran's pre-emptive action against the embargo will be the trigger for war. As ridiculous as it sounds, I can see Obama and his EU flunkies threatening to wage war against Iran if they don't continue supplying the oil until the deadline. As Justin Raimondo has pointed out time and time again, we're now living in bizarro world.

oh my yes. This is exactly what they want. Please read the current article from Arthur Silber http://powerofnarrative.blogspot.com January 28, 2012
Seeming Madness: The Suffocating Unreality that Kills He exlains it far better than I ever could

I suspect that it'll take approximately a week after the Iranian gambit is made for the people of Europe, especially Greece, Spain, and Italy, to put a stop to this nonsense. When the price of gasoline skyrockets in Athens and Rome and Madrid no amount of cajoling from DC is going to convince the pols in Europe to stick to their guns…

The US is going to seriously damage their relationships with their EU "allies" by trying to placate the Israelis…I wonder if it is worth it…no, I know it's not worth it. But this is an election year and the pols in DC won't do the right thing. Fools. All.

Don't be surprised when the EU politicians attempt to shove Washington's edict down Europe's throat, because those people are every bit as bought and paid for as the US Congress. What may very well happen in that scenario, however, is that the Southern Europeans, and perhaps also the French, revolt. Then the EU will bare its fangs and move to suppress the unrest. It could get very ugly, and the EU bureaucracy will slobber all over itself at the opportunity to expand its power by exploiting to the fullest the ensuing "state of emergency."

Just wait for the French Farmers to start Blocking the Highways and rioting about the price of Fuel, wont take long maybe two weeks. and by the way Skulz Chess was invented originally by the PERSIANS now knows as the Iranians (there was a similar game invented in India though)

"Again, around 70 refineries in Europe will need to be shut down if the light, ’sweet’ crude from Iran is unavailable. So, it all goes far beyond a matter of shortages in crude supply that Saudi Arabia can somehow make up."

Also noted and linked at the blog entry are the very interesting statements made by the Saudis and other GCC members that show they are not on the EU/US Empire/Zionist bandwagon. I thought at first that this confrontation might break OPEC, but with the noted declarations, it appears solidarity still remains within the cartel, which is a huge blow to Regime Change planners. It will be interesting to see how close the Majlis's vote is to being unanimous, as it seems very clear that the Iranians had a contingincy plan in place to deal with the embargo threat and are now implementing it.

I wouldn't be surprised. But that would surely be the end of the EU. The pols may be bought but the European people are not afraid to take to the streets and demand change – unlike the cowardly Americans who complain but never really seem to do anything. And before I get flamed, perhaps someone could tell me what the Occupy Wall Street (and associated off-shoots) demonstrations have accomplished, beyond some telly time for the non-leaders? What kind of legislation or reversal of position of a pol have they caused? …

Yes, it would be the end of the EU, but the politicians are too stupid to understand that. They think they can suppress any dissent. With regard to the Americans, yes, they are cowards and there's no hope for the foreseeable future in the US. The OWS thing was bound to fail – all anyone had to do was read Steinbeck's _In Dubious Battle_ to see the crackdown coming. I'd have thought leftist intellectuals would have been caught up on their reading.